Naas – Sunday 27th February

One couldn’t have described yesterday as anything other than a frustrating watch as within the couple of selections that were put up, we had some near misses and luckless passages. I’m still a little perturbed as to how Escaria Ten got beaten in the big chase, while Enniskerry was crucially blocked off at many different important junctures of his race, and inevitably fell out of the frame as a result. However, the racing at Naas today is hopefully a decent tonic for that – and fingers crossed it can go that bit better. 

The 2.30 race on the card is the first that catches my eye and I’m quite keen on the Limerick scorer, King Alex, in this race – who looks to have a progressive profile and perhaps some more improvement to come over fences. In truth, there should be a case made for the majority of these near the top of the betting, with the likes of Krabat and Ballyshannon Rose holding obvious claims. However, Connell’s horse won nicely last time out when beating a decent horse from the Arthur Moore stable and he registered comfortably his best RPR. He has been raised a stone in the weights since then, but still arrives here with a lovely racing weight and a great chance. At a price of 6/1 with Paddy Power, he is an each way bet. 

I am also very excited by the 3.00 race on the card, which is the 2m novice hurdle and is a Grade 2 race. Two horses that I have won on recently are in this, and I would love to hope that the likable Meet and Greet can run well for his connections. However, I am siding with Flame Bearer in this, who I have been convinced for a long time now is a Graded horse in the making and the manner of his win last time out was superb. He was a good bumper horse for a long time and Pat Doyle was in the winners on the track yesterday also. He can sometimes be a bit keen but his jumping is improving and the conditions of this race should be ideal. He is a short price for my standards, at 6/4 – but he should be bang there. 

The final race I’ll be looking at is the 5.00 race and this open handicap hurdle looks like the type of race that might be worth firing two bullets at. I’m going to side with Big King first, and yet again I am hoping the in-form Barry Connell can wave the magic wand with this horse after what has been a frustrating season. He was well backed prior to his first run in a while over this course and distance, but the gaps didn’t come at the right times and he was well beaten in the end. That was a funny race and he should be better for that, and has been leniently dropped a pound for that effort. This horse still has something to give, and at 6/1 with Paddy Power – with 5 places available, he should be backed each way. 

The other horse that could not be left go unbacked is Cosa Ban, for Shark Hanlon and Danny Mullins. This free going mare could be the exact type of ride for Mullins, who is such a good judge of pace in races such as this from the front. She defied a big absence to run a super race on stable debut at Punchestown, when only just being reeled in late and perhaps wisely, Shark has given her some time off to recover from that effort. She is back up to a mark of 111, which should not overface a horse with the ability she has and there should still be plenty of races to be won with her. At a price of 9/1 with Paddy Power, she should be backed each way.